RAMA

I hope everyone has heard at least once about Arthur C. Clarke, the author who wrote for example "2001 the Space Odyssey". He also wrote a serie of books with Gentry Lee, RAMA, who gave an adventure video game in 1996.

This game makes us discover a cylindrical world, populated by strange creatures. Sent with several other scientists, the hero must learn, understand and communicate with the creatures encountered. This game, especially oriented in reflection, exploration and mathematics, offers a challenge that remains still nowadays of the best in adventure games. This game is also released in many languages, and it would be wonderful it was at least available in the three main languages ​​(English, German, French).

RAMA, DRM-free compatible Winxp / 7/8 and proposed in English/German/French would be a great addition in the catalog of FireFlower, especially that it is offered nowhere else.

Developer : Dynamix
Editor : Sierra
Distributor : Sierra
Date : 1996
Style : Puzzle / SCI-FI / interactif movie
OS : Mac | PC
Gameplay : Mystlike (mouse only)

But this is not an indie game since it is not published by the developer themselve.

Yes, it's not an "Indie game". Like …

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders
all AGON games
Amerzone
Ankh
all Atlantis games
Black Sails
Cleopatra
Darkstone
all Dawn of Magic games
Destination Treasure Island
all Dracula Games
all Egypt games
Elven Legacy
Enclave
…

And all this is a little selection, only on the three first pages of the games sold on Fireflowergames.

So ?

What?!? But the about of this website says that it focus on carefully selected indie and DRM-free games…

Yes, FFG focus on selected drm-free indie games. But there is a difference beetween "focus" and "exclusively propose". On FFG, I've bought indie games impossible to find elsewhere, but I've been here the first time in aim to buy a drm-free version of an adventure game already bought on Steam. Like GOG (Good Old Gmaes) that sells now recent AAA games and indie movies, FFG has just adapted its game catalog to the demand. And when I asked to add Rama, I wanted to have a drm-free version compatible with the recent Operating Systems : actually neither Steam, Humble Store or GOG have this great classic game in their catalog, and it would be a huge thing to have it on FFG.

I see. But you asked one year ago and didn't get any reply. Is FFG abandoned?

The website, obviously not. But the forum, yes probably. It's why I've not written anything else until you answered to my request. This forum was a good idea, but with nobody ifficially from FFG to bring it life and answer questions, it's only a deception trap to every new client.

Hi,

Sorry we didn't reply to your suggestion. We would really like to have Rama on our site and we actually looked it up, but it's very difficult for a small player like us to get in touch with big companies like Activision (who probably owns the rights to Rama now), they simply don't reply. It can also sometimes be difficult, with old games, to find out who owns the rights to it and it can be a complicated ownership. We do however appreciate people suggesting and we do everything we can to get it on FireFlower. And it also helps if you as a customer contact the developers/publishers/owners and tell them that you would like to have the game on our site. And if you know of a specific person to contact, please share, we appreciate all the help we can get.

Wow ! There's somebody "official" and active on the forum ! Great ! Thank you for your answer. I easily can imagine how it's complex and frustrating to contact in vain such huge editors. It's a pity to see great games like this one be forgotten. However, I hope to see in this forum more activity : it's the best way to create a wonderful community around your games, talking about what they've liked or not, and why not try to help each other to play all the indie games impossible to find elsewhere, and for the ones there's no walkthrough or solution on Internet.

Yeah, we would like to see many more old games available again. And we'll try to be more active here from now on. :)